95f78c94eb

econ




And no, its probably not what you might think

I just went to take a memorial trip to the Concentration camp Dachau in Germany. We made a trip of it to see other things but felt a tour here needed to be done.

I'm glad I did it. Across many memorials the site itself is littered with, the words "Never Forget" and "Never Again" ring through most prominently. However, as we went through the site tour (has to be done with a guide, not on your own), I came across some very disturbing facts.

The atrocities committed, that jumps out at people. Over a quarter million people going through its gates at one time or othrt, and almost 50000 dead out of those. Despite those numbers, it wasnt these that shocked me, as Dachau was actually never meant to be a 'killing camp' like Ausweitz/Birkenau or Treblinka. No, the fact about the camp that shocked me was that they advertised when it was opened, back in 1933. Then, it wasnt necessarily for just the 'undesireables', the typical victims we are taught, it was also for political opponents of the Nazi Party as well.

The shock kept coming, as there was an origin history of Dachau as a camp as well as the rise in power of the National Socialist movement in Germany. Going to the NS-Dokumentationszentrum München, the museum in Munich detailing Hitler's rise to power, filled in more gaps. I had read a bit about the hyperinflation of the Weimar republic, but never really made the connection the failure of fiat was directly responsible for the rise of Nazism here, and ultimately the creation of the concentration camp.

Another surprising fact, the Nazis never had any majority in parliamentary representation before Hitler ultimately became a dictator. There were emergencies and political maneuvering done to have been taken advantage of, yes. But the economic conditions of first the Treaty of Versailles in 1918 and then the Great Depression in 1929 were enough that ordinary people were too focused on merely surviving themselves and with their families, so there were too few to oppose them either legally or with physical force. With the Nazis promising help ultimately to the country, it brought more people onto their side. Not a lot more people would be willing to oppose a government that helped literally feed their family, especially with the other option being imprisonment once they controlled the country's political system.

I'm sure there are other, more insidious reasons why someone may end up helping a blood thirsty dictatorship, but i believe this is a crucial intersection, where ideology meets practicality. To paraphrase, human governments are only 9 meals away from anarchy at all times, and the government that cannot supply stability will be replaced. Plus, while there are undoubtedly people who will embrace the evil (pointed out by the trials and testimonies of thr prisoners in the camp), as my tour guide pointed out, none of this could have been done without the aid of the ordinary people. 

And if the ordinary people are financially hamstrung and just trying to survive, there isnt any incentive to pay attention to the big picture beyond their own soup bowl. Which is why having a decent economy can be considered essential to civilization, because if there is no development in a positive direction, there tends to be growth in what will turn out to be a negative direction.













